Brendan Kelly told ABC 7 news on Thursday that he's a regular at Borderline Bar and Grill where a gunman opened fire Wednesday night, killing 11 people - including a sheriff's deputy.

Kelly described the sounds he heard when the gunman opened fire as a series of 'pops'.

"Being in the military, being in the Marine Corps, I'm aware of what that sounds like, especially in an enclosed area," said Kelly.

By the time the gunfire was over, 12 people were dead, including the shooter and a Ventura County Sheriff's deputy who was shot multiple times after responding to the scene.

Kelly said he had been at the bar for about an hour dancing at the "College Country Night" event at the bar when the gunman entered. Kelly says he began grabbing at people around him and throwing them to the ground for cover.

"As soon as I identified where the target was, or where the threat was, I grabbed at least two people around me and yanked them as hard as I could to get to the nearest exit," Kelly said.

Kelly said he and other people were able to make it out a back exit to safety and that after surviving the Las Vegas massacre this year, it's difficult to have another one happen so close to home.

"It's too close to home," Kelly said. "Borderline was our safe space after, for lack of a better term, it was our our home for the probably 30 or 45 of us who are all from the greater Ventura County area who were in Vegas. That was our place where we went to the following week, three nights in a row just so we could be with each other."

Kelly said once other injured victims began exiting the bar, he jumped in, trying to help any way he could. At one point, he removed his belt to set up an impromptu tourniquet for a friend's arm.

"I wanted to help as best I could," said Kelly. "If we could be the first level of first responders before they got there, then you do all you can do instead of standing around not doing much."